I think you will live! A couple 'exposures' like that shouldn't affect you at all. epoxy primers are no different from any other paint as far as your lungs are concerned. IF you happened to get any particulates in there, the lungs are very good at expelling them whatever they are. Exceptions are stuff like asbestos which embeds in the tissue and causes problems. Add to that the fact that you used filters and particulates are not an issue. The filters, old or not, will take out virtually 100% of the particulates. The only concern you have is if the cartridges are degraded to the point that they didn't filter out the harmful gasses. If they were stored in sealed packages, the activated charcoal was likely in good shape and that is the thing that does the deed.

Sanding stuff once it is cured is simply a particulate problem and if you use a dust mask most of the time you are 100% OK. That kind of damage is cumulative for all but the most sensitive folks and it takes years of a lot of exposure to do real harm. Coal miners worked decades in the mines breathing concentrated coal dust for 10hrs at a time before they developed black lung. My dad worked as a carpenter for 40 years breathing wood dust every day back when men were men and didn't need no stinking masks and he eventually died of old age at 90, lungs were perfect.

In short, go worry about something else.

 

The worry about inhaling catalyzed coatings (BC/CC and epoxy) is inhaling the wet particles and having it catalyze in your lungs ain: . You wake up about 2am and can't breath. The cured components are still a worry, but not as much as the wet stuff.

Vince

 

All the products you mention do not contain Isocyanates, so I wouldn't worry too much unless you were doing it everyday for a number of years. Dan

 

well thanks indeed you guys. it's 2:30 AM so i guess i will be able to go back to sleep. one more thing tho...

i have been for the most part, using a long sleeve shirt, until the sun was just too much. and the wind had been helping me out most of the day as well. except when i was spraying the inside of my boxes (of my utility box). i just had my head in a cloud of vapor. i could smell the paint VERY strongly thru the respirator! that didnt seem right. i am pretty sure i used some new cartriges, but i had like three different kinds, that were not like the ones i took out. one kind wouldnt fit at all and the ones i put in screwed in, but it didnt seem like they went in as nicely as the ones i took out.

i am going to the paint store tomorrow and ask about this, but should or should NOT a respirator stop all the SMELL of the vapors? my lungs feel kinda like i inhaled a pant-load of crap as well and my mucus feels more like glue than snot. i want to check this respirator out real good before i spray any more. it's "2AM" and all i can think about is the cloud of vapor my head was in and how strong the smell of the paint was, but i will take 36's advice once again and hope my lungs will push this stuff out of them :spank: i will re-read you guy's replies until i feel all warm and fuzzy!

 

If the respirator is working properly and fits good you shouldn't smell much if any paint. Facial hair messes up the seal. Also make sure you use the prefilters. And have some good air movement through your spray area. I agree your body will get over some minor exposure-been there many times over the years but it definately will harm you at some exposure levels and repeated again and again. None of this stuff is good for you. And if you live in California it may cause cancer.

 

My advice was for the incidental occasional exposure your described in your first post. However, don't push the envelope by immersing yourself in a toxic cloud!! don't depend on the mask for all your protection - get a box fan and ventilate your work space. Need to blow the concentrated fog away from yourself then the masks will be more than adequate. and for sure be glad you don't live in Kalifornia. Beach sand here is a severe health hazzard and must bear a warning of such when bagged and sold.

 

okay i will get a fan out. also, i realized i had to shave before i went out last night. that means i had at least one daze growth on my face. i know that messes up the seal. thanks for pointing that out. it aint gonna happen again. i will post pics in my album when i get done.

 

Please - not a box fan - the spray mists(solvents) can be explosive in some concentrations and box fans ARE NOT explosion proof - that is, an occasional spark, depending on the brand of motor, is not uncommon. Especially the Chinese junk that we have to buy from Wally World these days.

As far as a mask - it has to fit correctly and have an organic filter cartridge. Prefilters are optional but for sure extend the filter cartridges life. Check out the North line - silicone half face masks with an N7500-1 or -3 cartridge. I had some problems a few weeks ago with mine and found that the mask was improperly fitted (too tight) after some discussion with some of the guys here.

Dave

 

You can safely use an ordinary box fan if you use it as a pusher for inlet air into the room and have a small duct in front of it to make sure no flamable air is around the electric motor. You need inlet air and an exhaust opening on the opposite end of the spray room. If clean air is pushed in the bad air will go out.

 

i'm painting outside, pusher, but CHECK THIS SHEET OUT!

MY cartriges were in BACKWARDS!. they were old, i'm not a painter, and the seemed like they fit in my 3M mash PERFECTLY. WELL GUESS WHAT! the BLACK stripe/side has to be on the OUTSIDE!!! THERE ARE NO MARKINGS ON ANY OF THEM no ARROWS, NO NOTHING! so i might as well have been wearing NOTHING! if they have to put warning labels on a plastic BAG, then why in the HELL don't they have directions on these MOTHER F'N cartriges!!!! i am SO pisssssssssssssssssssssssed!

 

I guess I assume too much. Of course use the fan as a pusher. I'm not that afraid of explosions but blowing the air is much more efficient than trying to suck it. It would take a high concentration of paint in the air to become explosive. If you are exposing yourself to that concentration, then you have bigger problems than a mask can handle!

 

My advice was for the incidental occasional exposure your described in your first post. However, don't push the envelope by immersing yourself in a toxic cloud!! don't depend on the mask for all your protection - get a box fan and ventilate your work space. Need to blow the concentrated fog away from yourself then the masks will be more than adequate. and for sure be glad you don't live in Kalifornia. Beach sand here is a severe health hazzard and must bear a warning of such when bagged and sold.

Yeah I dont know how anyone in California is still alive everything is potentially lethal out there
Shane

 

We have Arnie protecting us with his magic hydrogen freeway. Why worry?

 

You can safely use an ordinary box fan if you use it as a pusher for inlet air into the room and have a small duct in front of it to make sure no flamable air is around the electric motor. You need inlet air and an exhaust opening on the opposite end of the spray room. If clean air is pushed in the bad air will go out.

I disagree. Why take a chance for not a lot of $$? My setup was less then $150 is speed controllable AND explosion proof. The consequences are not great if you do have a fire or explosion AND it does not take a big concentration of solvents.

This is from DuPont's MSDS 2.2:

"For flammable liquids, vapor/air will ignite when an ignition source is
present. In other cases, when heated above the flash point, emits
flammable vapors which, when mixed with air, can burn or be explosive.
Fine mists or sprays may be flammable at temperatures below the flash
point."

http://www.performancecoatings.dupont.com/dpc/en/us/html/prodinfo/daf/US_en_GNRC_2-2_RFN.pdf

Dave

 

Box fans generally use brushless induction motors, so no sparks there. The on-off switch however is a different animal and will generate a spark when switched ain: .

Vince

 

Box fans generally use brushless induction motors, so no sparks there. The on-off switch however is a different animal and will generate a spark when switched ain: .

Vince

Vince - you are 100% correct - unless you just happen to have an oldie but goody like my 40+ year old American made GE that actually has brushes - and a switch that sparks. An yes, it was used for painting - at least 3 cars and a p/u truck before I got "religion" :drool: .

This is a subject that has been discussed here before - and will be again. Safety has to be a priority, at least to me, so it always is good to repeat this information about masks, fans, compressed air systems, just to name a few places that many of us have taken a shortcut before and have been lucky so far. But, every person has to justify his own well being with what he feels is his comfort zone and safety.

Dave

 

We have Arnie protecting us with his magic hydrogen freeway. Why worry?

Haven't heard about this :drunk: fill me in
Shane

 

used the new filters that are made for my mask today. these cartriges had little arrows on them and said which way to point them (to face). woulda been NICE if'n the other ones i used had the same
amazing how i can't smell paint fumes anymore when i painted.
at least until my cheap-arse $40 LOWES P.O.S. spray gun attempeted to get used the second time,
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWW TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF??????
HOW CAN THEY SELL A PAINT GUN WITH A WHITE PLASTIC CAN GASKET THAT EXPANDES WHEN YOU CLEAN IT WITH XYLENE (THINNER) SO MUCH THAT YOU CAN NOT USE THE GUN ANYMORE????

i had to waste an entire quart of primer because the gun would not go back together. and *** is with that plastic cover with only the small hole in it that the feed tube can go thru?? i would show you pictures of it but i took it back to Lowe's all dirty and told the manager to stuff it up his ahole. WHAT a pile of CRAP!

overall i was able to paint my cab completely and the service box, but not the doors. great, all that work and i am putting if back together halfast! i am not buying another gun till i get up the $180 for the Sharp gun at the parts store. OH did i mention? PAINTING SUCKS! :smash: :smash: :smash:

36 I thought you lived in texas, you move to cali recently? or you just from tejas?

 

I have lived in the San Joaquin Valley of Kalif my whole life.

Arnie came in like a white night to clean up the state, cut taxes, reform welfare, close the borders, etc., etc., etc. He was doing fine until last year when he called a special election with about 6 conservative initiatives. The press crucified his efforts and all 6 ballot measures were defeated. Since then he has turned 180deg and is a clone of cousin Ted Kennedy. He was always a pretty stiff tree hugger but now he is fanatic. He has mandated the state adopt the Kyoto treaty 100%, pledged to get us totally off hydrocarbon fuels in a few years, and is literally building a freeway that will only allow hydrogen powered vehicles. He is now spending at a much faster clip than Gray Davis did when the citizens ran him out of office to elect Arnie. Sad. There really aren't any conservatives left, just liberal socialists to counter the outright Marxist Democrats. At least he hasn't yet adopted Wisconsin's new socialized medicine program which will increase payroll taxes in that state to 30% which is in addition to their income tax and the federal taxes. Business will leave that state in a whirlwind in the next year or so.

 

sorry, i didnt mean to insult you! i somehow thought you had something to do with texas, i guess cause you are an elephant. (sorry texans, i just got this thing about texas presidents, starting with LBJ)
but anyway, do you or anybody else here have any experiences with Xylene thinner causing plastic to expand?

 

No offense taken. Texans are great folk. They have however given us a couple, shall we say, less than perfect presidents? Actually Kalif is 99% elephant, land-wise. Its just the degenerate population centers @ San Fransicko and LA that overpower the decent folk here. Like the rest of the country, just rotten around the edges - see below. Bakersfield votes 80% conservative.

 

:sweat: MY COUNTY VOTED REPUBLICAN?! AARRRRGGGGHHHHH! (second from the top in N.W. washington) yer KILLIN ME!

BTW PEOPLE everywhere that i said i used Xylene, it turns out i must have used that up a year ago because my can of thinner just says laquer thinner with the usual components: acetone, etc


ps willys, did you get that graphic from the GOP?

 

No I got it at some political watchdog website. Maybe RealClearPolitics.com? They had county by county and state by state maps for the last election. That is a pretty good site for daily news on the political front. They list a bunch more stuff than Drudge does.

 

I was surprised to see my County voted Democrat, I can honestly say I voted republican only because at the time I thought it the lesser of two evils. Kerry still wouldn't get my vote. I sure wish we could get some better people running for office.

 

I was surprised to see my County voted Democrat, I can honestly say I voted republican only because at the time I thought it the lesser of two evils. Kerry still wouldn't get my vote. I sure wish we could get some better people running for office.

Word!!!!!!!!!